Bloody Murder
by KarkleSparkles
Summary: Sollux is working a job as a criminal investigator. Eridan is a homicidal murderer. While hiding from each other, they end up finding each other in a dangerous dance of hatred and the impact of law. TW: Violence
1. Capitulum Unum

Authors Note: Homestuck AU - Sgrub never existed, Alternian life continues. The trolls are now 10 sweeps old. Her Marvelous Admiration has begun a project - observing a planet put under the same rules and conditions as planet Earth.

* * *

TA

Your name is Sollux Captor. You are in a bad mood. This isn't unusual, it was rare to see a time when you aren't. You had been working twelve hours straight, angrily reading and signing notes for the current case you were presented with. Working in a detective agency wasn't easy, but the pay was excellent. It definately had more pros than cons, although recently the list of cons was slowly creeping up higher.

The current case Sollux was working on wasn't anything challenging. He had definately done similar cases before, but with tasks like this one came fuck loads of paperwork. Theft crimes were quite simple as the culprit could easily be caught, but consent from the victims to search their hive for clues, paperwork reguarding stolen items, and the fees on technology made the task monotonous and almost not worth the trouble.

Taking a final sip from his coffee, Sollux signed the last page in the pile. He sighed deeply, relaxing his tired arms and stretching his legs out a bit. The time was 7:17am. He had worked far overtime for the third time this week, but he didn't care enough to complain to his boss. He had nothing better to do back at his hive anyway.

The office was nearly deserted by now, apart from a cleaner mopping the floors. Sollux nodded at him as he walked past, exiting the building. He had missed any buses that operate this late, so it looked like he would have to walk back to his hive. Taking out an umbrella to shield himself from the sun, he began the treacherous walk.

Halfway there, Sollux realised he had accidentally brought his gun with him. Normally, he would leave it in his desk. Using guns was something he was not interested in, but it was company policy that he had one on him at any time during his shifts. He preferred using his psionics, but revealing his power to anyone could result in instant suspension and exile. It was a lot safer to pretend to have green blood, and it was very likely that Sollux wasn't the only troll doing the same.

Upon reaching 10 sweeps, Sollux had been allocated to a planet called Zanzabar. The planet had been emptied of life by the Admiration and her servants a few sweeps ago, and was being used as a test to see how troll life would function on a new planet. The population was mostly trolls of euivalent age or older, and everyone was at least a green blood, or so it was thought. Trolls of Sollux's mustard yellow blood, particually psionics, were being sought out by the Admiration for reasons unknown. It was very wise to avoid being found by her at all costs.

Sollux remembered Feferi before she became Her Marvellous Admiration. A few sweeps ago, Feferi and her monster lusus attacked her predecessor, Her Imperious Condescension who was on her return trip back to the trolls home planet. They ended up killing her, allowing Feferi to gain full rule over all Alternian trolls. The burden of ruling finally took its toll on her, and she became exactly like the Condesce, if not worse. Sollux had not seen his best friend since he was 6. The Admirse has put him under intensive watch. In fact, he had lost contact with all of his childhood friends.

He had finally made it to his hive. It was very small, but big enough for basic needs. Sollux was saving up his money for a new TV anyway. Anyone else would save up for a bigger hive, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself. If he were to last in this new society, the more he stayed on the down low, the better.

He placed the gun under his couch, and then sat in and began watching his TV. It was very small, and hurt his eyes a bit looking at it. It was way too early for any good shows to be airing though, so he just put it on the news channel. Sollux took off his mirror shades he constantly wore to hide his eyes and threw them across the room. He blinked several times, welcoming the small stabs of pain as they adjusted to normal lighting.

Adjusting to all the new words was difficult. Bus, house, money, jobs. He found it difficult to keep up, and tended to use normal Alternian terminology as much as he could, as long as no one could hear. Sollux stretched out on his couch, shutting his eyes and quickly drifted to sleep. He had left the TV on, and missed the report:

_We have breaking news, the Bloody Murderer has struck again, this time slicing the arms off a citizen, leaving them to bleed to death. This is the fourth attack by this mysterious troll. More information will be provided later._

It was rare for trolls to fear a murderer, but the influence of this new society was having its impact on the normally violent minds of the trolls. If Zanzabar was able to run smoothly, the Admirse would most likely stop checking up as often, enabling freedom for the planets new inhabitants. The murderer was preventing this fantasy from becoming a reality.

* * *

CA

Your name is Eridan Ampora. You're in a bad mood. This isn't unusual, it is rare to see a time when you aren't. A life constantly on the run from the officers wouldn't strike happiness in anyone anyway. You have long since forgotten the reason why you do the things you do, which is probably for the best.

After a tiresome night, Eridan was ready for a long snooze. He had left a body to bleed to death on the opposite side of town. The media should be finding it right about now. This was enough time for him to leave town and return back to the cavern he calls home. It was right at the beach, which was far enough away from the town for the officers to neglect looking there.

Eridan was a stowaway on a ship to a fairly new planet called Zanzabar. He wanted to escape his previous life in the monarchy. Her Marvellous Admiration, his former moirail, had changed. He watched her become corrupt under the pressure of ruling over the trolls. She had abandoned her moirail, and in turn he abandoned her. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be as easy as that, and he knew he had to escape.

The Bloody Murderer was the name the public had given Eridan. After a few weeks on this planet, he grew bored. Hiding his face in his cape, he began murdering trolls. He had no other way to let out his anger. Before the Admirses rule, murder was not a big deal. It was even considered a sport, but now it was a felony punishable by exile.

Finally, he had arrived at his cavern. The entrance was concealed by water, conveniently earning Eridan access and no one else due to his gills. His cavern was quite empty beside from random piles of clothing scattered around. He fell asleep the moment he jumped on his scarf pile. In his cave, Eridan felt safe.

It was going to be a long week.


	2. Capitulum Duo

TA

"Sollux. Forget the theft, we are going to assign to you a new case." Sollux's boss was a grumpy and straightforward blue blood. He owned the entire business, most likely due to backstabbing his competition before the flight to Zanzabar. Luckily, he treated Sollux a bit more nicer than his other employees, probably due to the fact that he never left a case unsolved.

"Thank fuck. What's it this time, boss?" Sollux asked. Upon arriving back to his desk, he had noticed his paperwork had mysteriously disappeared. In the back of the room, an angry sigh could be heard; most likely from the unfortunate troll who had to finish what Sollux had started.

"Well... How do I put this? The Bloody Murderer case..." It was rare to see the Boss this uncertain, but the Bloody Murderer case was very troublesome for the company. At least five detectives had previously been put on the case, and each of them had died a brutal, gory death. Being assigned to it was the equivalent of being assigned a death sentence. Not really something that anyone would want to do.

"Let me guess, you're assigning me the case? Well isn't that fucking fantastic."

"Well, you are one of the best our business has to offer. And we need this to be solved as soon as possible. And don't think I'm letting you do this alone, I'm assigning you a partner."

Sollux sighed. He didn't exactly work well with others. Most of his cases were done by himself, and all of his previous partners refused to work with him again. He had no idea why. Who could possibly resist his charming personality? (Hint: everyone)

"Her name is Pyrope. She is new to our company, but she is very keen to take on our biggest case. Fucking idiot." He muttered the last part under his breath with a smile. It was almost as if he enjoyed the imminent death of his new employees. As long as the Boss didn't have to do anything, he could safely watch everyone else from the shadows, laughing as he did.

"Fine then. Send her in. I would like to speak to her in private, if you don't mind." The Boss left the room with a final chuckle, making a gesture to the door. Then, she entered.

"Hi, I'm Terezi Pyrope! I believe we will be partners on this case?" said the passionate troll. She had a huge grin, showing all of her pointy teeth. She was wearing a feminine suit and tie, but a teal flower in her pocket revealed her blood colour. She was wearing dark shades, with a slight red shade to them. She seemed somewhat familiar, although Sollux couldn't place a finger on it.

"Before we start, is there anything I need to know about you? Personality disorder, compulsive lieing, tendency to accidentally keep stabbing me?" Memories of previous partners met him with a shudder. This Terezi girl seemed alright so far.

"Well, there is one thing. But you musn't tell anyone!" She said, still smiling. Sollux immediately presumed blood colour. But if there was one thing she wasn't going to do, it was making himself reveal his own. That wouldn't happen in a billion sweeps. But Terezi surprised him, taking of her glasses to reveal red where there should have been yellow. She was blind.

Sollux was completely still again. It wasn't from shock, but it was the familliar feeling he got from her. Everything about her just reminded him of someone. The suspence was killing him. "Thankyou for telling me, Terezi, and I promise I will keep it a secret." He said, as she put her glasses back on. "Now if you would please help me, we have a lot of paperwork to do." He said glumly, pulling out a chair. All she did was smile as she sat down, picking up a paper and signing randomly in the middle of the page.

CA

Eridan stared down at the troll he had pinned beneath him. They were in an alleyway on the far end of town, where no one really went. It was preferable for an interrogation, but it was best not to stay too long.

The troll was most likely a journalist of some sort - Eridan had found her walking up to people and demanding answers about the Bloody Murderer. When handling dangerous subjects, it was best to be discreet. That was her first mistake.

"How long have you been workin' on the story?" Asked Eridan in a polite voice, except his angry face said differently. The troll was obviously scared, and not even trying to look tough in the face of danger.

"Th-three d-ays!" She blurted. Her eyes were clenched shut, trying to prevent tears from forming. Eridan reached into her pocket and pulled out her notebook. He flicked through the pages, which were full of many, many accounts of the Bloody Murderer - some true, some false. He put the notebook into his jacket pocket and turned to face her.

"Tell me the truth." He said firmly. Purple fire danced in his eyes. Her lie was her second mistake.

"T-two weeks." She whimpered. She was very young, about two sweeps younger than Eridan was. Her inexperience was very obvious to him.

Eridan smiled slightly, and pulled a knife out of his pocket. It was stained in blue, green and aqua. It supposedly would've looked pretty if it wasn't troll blood.

"Wh-what are you doing w-with that?" She asked frantically.

"Are you makin' fun of my accent?" Eridan shot back, chuckling a little. She shook her head quick and seriously. At least Eridan could laugh at his own jokes.

The troll had finally started to cry, no matter how hard she was trying not to. This caught Eridan's attention, and he leaned over, wiping an orange-brown tear off her face. Her blood colour was a high felony on Zanzabar.

"Hmm, how about you don't tell anyone my secret, and I won't tell anyone yours?" Eridan suggested. She nodded, gasping for air between sobs.

"But still, I don't know if you'll keep your end of the bargain..." He continued. The troll looked at him with eyes widened in shock. Before she knew what was happening, Eridan jammed her mouth open with his hands, and stuck his knife in her mouth. He counted to three, and sliced through the bottom of her mouth, cutting her tongue out. Orange blood spilled everywhere: over her clothes, over his hands, over the ground. The troll let out a scream, but it was muffled by the large amount of blood filling her mouth.

"Don't you dare even write to anyone what happened. I have my ways of findin' out, and if I hear of anythin', your tongue won't be the only thin' I cut off you." He threw the tongue at the young journalist, and walked out of the alleyway and into the night. She was left there, on the ground, to choke on her own blood.


	3. Pharisaeis Nicodemus

Chapter 3: Pharisaeis Nicodemus

GC

"You wouldn't believe who I saw today!" Terezi yelled excitedly to her matesprit across the room. She had changed out of her tuxedo, now wearing some comfortable pjamas. It was a good feeling, being safe. She and Karkat deserved it after what they had been through.

"Let me take a wild guess: no one?" mumbled Karkat in a grumpy tone. This was pretty much his regular tone. He was sitting in an armchair, fiddling around on a stolen laptop. Terezi giggled; blind jokes never really bothered her.

"Sollux! He definitely did not remember me though!" Karkat froze, and turned to face Terezi.

"Sollux?! But we haven't even heard from him in sweeps! Not since the whole Admirse thing. How could he possibly have not recognized you?"

"Well, he did speak to you more than he spoke to me. And I've kind of forgotten half of our old friends too, so give him a break." Terezi swiftly jumped over the armchair, and landed right on Karkat's lap, giving him a huge kiss.

After Feferi had become Empress, she had abducted every troll of Karkat's blood colour, and locked them up in a special room on one of her huge flagships. _"Wouldn't want them to come to any harm, would we?"_ She had said. There were around ten red blooded trolls in Karkat's room, and three had died within an hour. No matter how much Karkat tried reasoning with Feferi when she came to retrieve the bodies, she would not listen, insisting that she was culling them for their own safety. She had been corrupted well beyond reach.

Terezi knew she had to save Karkat as news of Feferi's insanity reached her. She had boarded the flagship on one of its frequent visits to Alternia, and spent half a sweep on board trying to find Karkat's room. She had been caught twice by the guards on board, but always managed to escape them.

Eventually, she had found Karkat, and escaped off the flagship, and stowed away on another one to Zanzabar. Terezi had heard about this planet, and knew it meant safety. She was able to claim a hive just out of the city, all while sneakily hiding Karkat. If he were to leave the hive, it would mean certain death, probably for the both of them. It was nearly impossible to hide his blood colour.

"Do you ever miss life back on Alternia?" Terezi asked suddenly. Karkat shrugged.

"Well, it's the exact same to me. Stay in hiding or you'll die. Such fun." His answers always lacked heart, but Terezi was used to it. She cuddled up to him, quickly pecking him on the cheek. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer.

"Don't worry. As soon as that stupid ideot of a murderer stops doing what he's doing, we'll be home free."

CA

On Alternia, Eridan rarely went into the ocean. He had killed a lot of trolls and the other sea dwellers were hostile towards him because of this. But on Zanzabar, he was the only sea dwelling troll. The ocean was his to rule.

Drifting aimlessly through the ocean current was the easiest way to pass time. It helped Eridan get his thoughts together without any distractions. He had left his baggy clothing in his cave. After all, it was near impossible for anyone to find him here. A little skinny dipping wouldn't hurt anyone.

Orange blood was rising off his fingers, drifting away into the abyss of the sea. He watched it slowly floated away, and scrubbed the rest off. A fish of some sort swam over, trying to eat it, paying no interest to the murderer.

Eridan almost didn't hear the large splash behind him as something began to sink through the water. The fish abruptedly swam away, tearing Eridan's attention away from it. He then turned around, observing the object which had stopped sinking. As it began moving, it immediately became apparent that it was not an object. It was another troll.

It was not a sea dweller, to Eridan's relief, just a regular land dweller. He was very startled, and hadn't even noticed another presence. Eridan concluded that the unfortunate troll had fallen from a boat or a flagship.

Once the troll snapped back to reality, he began screaming at the sight of the naked sea dweller before him. Bubbles escaped his mouth, racing to the water's surface. He soon shut up, and grabbed Eridan's shoulders. He was begging for Eridan to bring him to the surface, but the stone cold sea dweller showed no such mercy. He watched as the troll shook Eridan's shoulders, screaming frantically. Eventually, the trolls grip weakened.

He had not drowned yet, which was dangerous for Eridan. What if some more trolls came looking for him? As unlikely as it seemed, it was still a huge threat to him. He opened his mouth, sharp shark teeth glistening in the water. The troll had a weak reaction, assuming Eridan was finally about to help him. But Eridan bit down onto his chest, dragging his teeth across, ripping shreds of flesh out. Green blood was sprayed out, surrounding the two trolls. The ruined body of the now dead troll began to sink, being met by ravenous fish the further it went.

As more puffs of green floated up, Eridan decided it was best he headed home.


End file.
